Risk Perception

The risk discipline is young and there are a number of ideas, perspectives and conceptions of risk out there. A number of such common conceptions of risk are examined in the book, related to the risk concept, risk assessments, uncertainty analyses, risk perception, the precautionary principle, risk management and decision making under uncertainty. The Author discusses these concepts, their strengths and weaknesses, and concludes that they are often better judged as misconceptions of risk than conceptions of risk.

Risk has become one of the main topics in fields as diverse as engineering, medicine and economics, and it is also studied by social scientists, psychologists and legal scholars.

This authoritative collection goes beyond economic statistics and probability data to offer a robust psychological understanding of risk perception and risk taking behavior. Expert contributors examine various risk domains in life, and pinpoint cognitive, emotional, and personality factors contributing to individual differences in risk taking as well as the many nuances social demographics (e.g., culture, gender) bring to risk decisions. Coverage takes competing theories and studies into account to identify mechanisms involved in processing and acting on uncertainty. And implications and applications are demonstrated in varied fields, from updated risk models for the insurance sector to improved risk communication in health services to considering risk perception in policy decisions.